Rolling Stone (p.77) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he powerful RECKONING established the band as bona fide leaders of the new American indie-rock underground."Spin (p.91) - "[T]he songs betrayed a folk-country influence -- the Byrds, in particular -- resulting in an album refreshingly out of fashion for 1984."Spin (12/03, p.122) - "...RECKONING gets over on straight-up songcraft..."CMJ (1/6/03, p.14) - Included in CMJ's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time"CMJ (1/5/04, p.14) - Ranked #1 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1984".Q (Magazine) (p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he jangle and crunch of Buck's Rickenbacker brooked no confusion; here were the seeds of every baroque experiment with mandolins and balalaikas that lay ahead..."Blender (Magazine) (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING aims for the gut with roundhouse drumming, sunburst guitars, Podunk country ballads...and just enough poetic vagueness..."Pitchfork (Website) - "[I]t is host to a kind of determined minimalism, each song building via subtle variations in performance and instrumentation."Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING remains a highpoint in REM's first chapter of existence. 'Central Rain' sounds like a lost soul classic..."Uncut (magazine) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING, remarkably, deepened the band's mythology, projecting a kind of existential restlessness wrapped in webs of gorgeous guitar arpeggio and interweaving vocal textures."6.030549

Uncut (p.104) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] fine celebration of the instruments roots in Africa and its assimilation into the fabric of American music."Down Beat (p.92) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "There may not be a better roots album released this year or decade than RECAPTURING THE BANJO."Dirty Linen (p.p.36) - "Taylor and his colleagues have again served up a living history lesson -- musical, cultural, political -- that's bound to expand the thinking of a lot of listeners."Dirty Linen (p.45) - "Otis Taylor and a host of notable contributors present a collection of largely blues-flavored, banjo-backed songs intended to entertain..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Multi-instrumental bluesman Taylor continues to enthrall with roots music allied to an exploration of America's past race problems and social injustices.Harp (magazine) (p.94) - "'Hey Joe' of Hendrix/Byrds renown, is pierced by Taylor's nasty guitar licks, and his 'Absinthe' takes an ethereal turn via Hart's lap steel."5.169905

Q (4/00, pp.113,115) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Best of [their] career mainly because it's got 'Kicks' on it and The Byrds' producer, Terry Melcher, knew how to put some rattle into the guitar..."0.5070449

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.126) - Ranked #124 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "Hillman bloomed as a writer, simultaneously reviving the Byrds' early magic and foreshadowing their adventures in country rock..."Entertainment Weekly (6/28-7/5/96, p.106) - "...illustrates why the best Byrds music still inspires musicians....And while time hasn't enhanced the group's forays into psychedelia...there are enough keepers to make you forgive their occasional tendency to fly into walls." - Rating: B+Q (12/94, p.158) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...flawed Byrds masterpiece...a seamless blend of psychedelia, C&W, rock and jazz. These American Beatles were never in better form..."Melody Maker (5/11/96, p.50) - Recommended - "...As haphazard as all false divinities, maybe The Byrds kissed the sky mostly by accident. It doesn't matter. You can still find them up there."Musician (8/96, p.90) - "Seems unfair to do this reissue a mere four years after you dropped a pile of money on the box set, but whatever `20-bit remastering' means, I like the sound better here. The guitar interplay emerges with greater warmth and clarity, without over-thinning the wash..."NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #98 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'NME (Magazine) (5/11/96, p.46) - 10 (out of 10) - "...a work of genius....a sprawling multi-flavoured blow out..."0.2931417

Rolling Stone (9/19/96, p.82) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Like Live, Better Than Ezra are essentially a hard-pop band....[they] owe more to the Beatles and the Byrds...than to indie rock. That melodic buoyancy makes [Kevin] Griffin's penchant for melodrama palatable and makes his best songs irresistibly endearing..."Spin (9/96, pp.154-155) - 6 - Reasonably Good - "...Better Than Ezra come off here as experts in the anguished surge--you've almost got to admire Kevin Griffin's ambitiousness and conviction, not to mention his utter lack of awareness that anyone else has ever felt these things before."0.2174378

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.124) - Ranked #117 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "[D]ressing Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard songs in steel guitar and rock & roll drive, setting the stage for country rock."Rolling Stone (6/12/97, p.114) - "...Remixed and reshuffled, with Gram Parsons' vocals front and center, this sparkling reissue gives revisionist history a good name..."Rolling Stone (9/14/68, p.20) - "...The material they've chosen to record, or rather, the way they perform the material, is simple, relaxed and folky. It's not pretentious, it's pretty. The musicianship is excellent..."Rolling Stone (6/12/97, p.114) - "...Remixed and reshuffled, with Gram Parsons' vocals front and center, this sparkling reissue gives revisionist history a good name..."Rolling Stone (9/14/68, p.20) - "...The material they've chosen to record, or rather, the way they perform the material, is simple, relaxed and folky. It's not pretentious, it's pretty. The musicianship is excellent..."Entertainment Weekly (4/4/97, pp.81-82) - "...sounds sharper [than the original pressing]...and outtakes featuring Gram Parsons add a rustic postscript. Anyone taken with the '90s alt-country of Wilco should visit this more authentic RODEO..." - Rating: AEntertainment Weekly (4/4/97, pp.81-82) - "...sounds sharper [than the original pressing]...and outtakes featuring Gram Parsons add a rustic postscript. Anyone taken with the '90s alt-country of Wilco should visit this more authentic RODEO..." - Rating: AQ (9/00, p.134) - Included in Q's "Best Alt.Country Albums Of All Time".Q (4/97, p.140) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...their most influential album, a landmark at a crucial junction on pop's long, dusty road..."Q (1/04, p.130) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[S]pawning several generations of rockers who were a lil' bit country."Q (9/00, p.134) - Included in Q's "Best Alt.Country Albums Of All Time".Q (4/97, p.140) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...their most influential album, a landmark at a crucial junction on pop's long, dusty road..."Down Beat (8/97, p.61) - 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...the best of the pack....a full immersion into bluegrass, country and gospel..."Down Beat (8/97, p.61) - 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...the best of the pack....a full immersion into bluegrass, country and gospel..."Dirty Linen (12/03, p.59) - "...Without a doubt the album most influential for generations of musicians interested in fusing country and rock..."Dirty Linen (12/03, p.59) - "...Without a doubt the album most influential for generations of musicians interested in fusing country and rock..."Musician (6/97, p.86) - "...there was a time before the Eagles, when the Byrds made the steel guitar acceptable to hippies...The 20-bit remastering seems to add overtones to everything without adding anything to the price, and the five extra cuts...offer an illuminating glimpse into how they worked..."Musician (6/97, p.86) - "...there was a time before the Eagles, when the Byrds made the steel guitar acceptable to hippies...The 20-bit remastering seems to add overtones to everything without adding anything to the price, and the five extra cuts...offer an illuminating glimpse into how they worked..."Blender (Magazine) (p.82) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t now sounds like a prophecy of the way Nashville and L.A. embraced each other in the '70s."0.2029402

Rolling Stone (7/26/69, p.36) - "This is an eminently playable record....The vocals are warm and full...with rich, complementary harmonies....Tasteful backing accompanies the superb compositions....the result is an especially satisfying work..."Rolling Stone (7/26/69, p.36) - "This is an eminently playable record....The vocals are warm and full...with rich, complementary harmonies....Tasteful backing accompanies the superb compositions....and the result is an especially satisfying work..."Uncut (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "CSN defined themselves by chilling out and laying back, turning down the volume on the Byrds/Springfield amplifiers. In place of electric fizz and crackle came softer tones, richer layering."Dirty Linen (p.56) - "CSN showcased tight harmonies and innovative songwriting..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Every song was masterfully crafted and performed, some of the most valuable work its three principals would ever produce..."0.1996144

Spin (12/01, pp.154,157) - 8 out of 10 - "...Sincere paeans to growth, self-realization, and tree-hugging transcendence....the best West Coast country-rock band since '80s insurgents the Long Ryders..."Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) - Ranked #23 in AP's "25 Best Albums of 2001".Alternative Press (12/01, p.83) - 8 out of 10 - "...Avoiding irony and smarm...this gives off good vibrations..."Magnet (p.85) - "Many of the album's tracks began nice and steady with honky-tonk fingerpicking and woozy pedal steel but ended in a miasma of organ drone and haunting harmony vocals."CMJ (10/8/01, p.5) - "...A relaxed, panoramic sound and psychedelic effects gently mutating together..."Mojo (Publisher) (11/01, p.100) - "...They take the nascent country rock of The Byrds and extrapolate every last ounce of plangent guitar chime and yearning vocal polyphony until they ring afresh..."0.1996144

Rolling Stone (7/26/69, p.36) - "This is an eminently playable record....The vocals are warm and full...with rich, complementary harmonies....Tasteful backing accompanies the superb compositions....the result is an especially satisfying work..."Rolling Stone (7/26/69, p.36) - "This is an eminently playable record....The vocals are warm and full...with rich, complementary harmonies....Tasteful backing accompanies the superb compositions....and the result is an especially satisfying work..."Uncut (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "CSN defined themselves by chilling out and laying back, turning down the volume on the Byrds/Springfield amplifiers. In place of electric fizz and crackle came softer tones, richer layering."Dirty Linen (p.56) - "CSN showcased tight harmonies and innovative songwriting..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Every song was masterfully crafted and performed, some of the most valuable work its three principals would ever produce..."0.1996144

Rolling Stone - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The Jayhawks returned to their early, easeful prettiness, imagining a better yesterday where CSNY got along and Gram Parsons lived to spend the Seventies filling America's station wagons with AM gold."Rolling Stone (4/17/03, p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...All lilting vocals and gentle acoustic fireworks....The Jayhawks' old-fashioned gift is that they can make being lost sound sort of nice..."Rolling Stone (4/17/03, p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...All lilting vocals and gentle acoustic fireworks....The Jayhawks' old-fashioned gift is that they can make being lost sound sort of nice..."Spin (5/03, p.116) - "...RAINY DAYS MUSIC returns to the Byrds nest....Gary Louris' shaky/sweet vocals suit the album's rueful vibe..." - Grade: BSpin (5/03, p.116) - "...RAINY DAYS MUSIC returns to the Byrds nest....Gary Louris' shaky/sweet vocals suit the album's rueful vibe..." - Grade: BEntertainment Weekly (4/11/03, p.76) - "...Folk-rock laced with banjos, accordions, and pedal steel, MUSIC is the roots move one suspects fans have wanted for years, its classic rock flavor echoing the Byrds, CSNY, and Poco..." - Rating: B+Entertainment Weekly (4/11/03, p.76) - "...Folk-rock laced with banjos, accordions, and pedal steel, MUSIC is the roots move one suspects fans have wanted for years, its classic rock flavor echoing the Byrds, CSNY, and Poco..." - Rating: B+Uncut (5/03, p.102) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It's all acoustic guitars, rich jangling melodies and heavenly harmonies....Gary Louis has come up with some of his most memorable compositions..."Uncut (5/03, p.102) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It's all acoustic guitars, rich jangling melodies and heavenly harmonies....Gary Louis has come up with some of his most memorable compositions..."Magnet (4/03, p.94) - "...This album is buoyed by the best set of tunes since TOWN HALL; 'You Look So Young' and 'Angelyne' are as delicate and sweet as anything Louris and Co. have penned..."CMJ (04/14/03, p.8) - "...Revisits familiar territory with aplomb and enthusiasm, while letting the music do all the talking..."CMJ (04/14/03, p.8) - "...Revisits familiar territory with aplomb and enthusiasm, while letting the music do all the talking..."Dirty Linen (06-07/03, p.83) - "...A low-key effort that features delicate harmonies, recalling California relatives such as Poco and the post-Gram Parsons Burrito Brothers..."Dirty Linen (06-07/03, p.83) - "...A low-key effort that features delicate harmonies, recalling California relatives such as Poco and the post-Gram Parsons Burrito Brothers..."Mojo (Publisher) (4/03, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Their new-found economy makes for some pretty lovely highpoints....Louris is unquestionably a virtuoso, playing his parts with a decorous restraint, and contributing cooing, affectingly human vocals..."Mojo (Publisher) (4/03, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Their new-found economy makes for some pretty lovely highpoints....Louris is unquestionably a virtuoso, playing his parts with a decorous restraint, and contributing cooing, affectingly human vocals..."0.1996144

Rolling Stone (4/6/95, pp.62-64) - 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...Wilco have made one hell of a country-guts debut....Just as classic country tells of...real life in everyday language...so does Tweedy's small-town worldview have an Everyman honesty..."Entertainment Weekly (4/7/95, pp.89-90) - "...Though [Wilco has] a '90s bleakness far removed from the sunny romanticism of the Byrds and Poco, [they] are following the same urge as those earlier acts: the need to sink roots into something more nourishing than mere rock & roll flash without losing their edge..." - Rating: B+Q (9/00, p.135) - Included in Q's "Best Alt.Country Albums Of All Time" - "...A soundtrack for Midwestern teenagers out doing no good."Option (7-8/95, p.146) - "...The vocals are laidback and sometimes even strained, but the delivery only adds to the friendly familiarity of the album....Herein lies evidence that A.M. is as sound lyrically as it is musically..."Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #34 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.0.181791

Rolling Stone (11/89) - Rated #27 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.Spin (p.105) - "Shrieked in registers so high they never wanna come down....The greatest album ever made about how you can't run away from yourself."Spin (p.89) - "[T]he chiming intro and druggy harmonies of 'Paradise City' reached back to the Byrds."Q (7/01, p.86) - Included in Q's "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time".Q (8/00, p.127) - Included in Q's "Best Metal Albums Of All Time" - "The sweariest rock album ever made...a riotous celebration of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll..."Alternative Press (p.200) - "Slash's leering, boogie-rock riffs reeked of danger and the Stones..."Kerrang (Magazine) (p.53) - "A genuine rock classic and one of the greatest albums of the last 20 years....It was loud, nasty, caused public outcry and sold over 25 million copies."0.181791

Rolling Stone (p.77) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he powerful RECKONING established the band as bona fide leaders of the new American indie-rock underground."Spin (p.91) - "[T]he songs betrayed a folk-country influence -- the Byrds, in particular -- resulting in an album refreshingly out of fashion for 1984."Spin (12/03, p.122) - "...RECKONING gets over on straight-up songcraft..."CMJ (1/6/03, p.14) - Included in CMJ's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time"CMJ (1/5/04, p.14) - Ranked #1 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1984".Q (Magazine) (p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he jangle and crunch of Buck's Rickenbacker brooked no confusion; here were the seeds of every baroque experiment with mandolins and balalaikas that lay ahead..."Blender (Magazine) (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING aims for the gut with roundhouse drumming, sunburst guitars, Podunk country ballads...and just enough poetic vagueness..."Pitchfork (Website) - "[I]t is host to a kind of determined minimalism, each song building via subtle variations in performance and instrumentation."Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING remains a highpoint in REM's first chapter of existence. 'Central Rain' sounds like a lost soul classic..."Uncut (magazine) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "RECKONING, remarkably, deepened the band's mythology, projecting a kind of existential restlessness wrapped in webs of gorgeous guitar arpeggio and interweaving vocal textures."0.1639676

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.108) - Ranked #40 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...Love were Lee's vehicle for a pioneering folk-rock - paranoid, punky, like the Byrds morphing into the Doors..."Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.108) - Ranked #40 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...Love were Lee's vehicle for a pioneering folk-rock - paranoid, punky, like the Byrds morphing into the Doors..."Q (8/99) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Psychedelic Albums of All Time" issue.Q (8/99, p.138) - "...whenever lists are compiled for greatest album of all time, FOREVER CHANGES has its advocates....exquisite tunes...a rather elaborate Summer of Love chamber piece..."Q (8/99) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Psychedelic Albums of All Time."Q (8/99, p.138) - "...whenever lists are compiled for greatest album of all time, FOREVER CHANGES has its advocates....exquisite tunes...a rather elaborate Summer of Love chamber piece..."Uncut (p.99) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "A suite of songs as seductive as honey-traps, with such powerful psychological associations of sunshine that they almost warm the skin on your arms..."Q (Magazine) (p.157) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "No self-respecting record collector should be without a copy..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.78) - "FOREVER CHANGES is Love's masterwork....David Angel's spellbinding orchestral arrangements are certainly key in establishing it as a transcendent album."Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) - Included in Mojo's "Best Reissues of 2001".Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.89) - "...'The' key '60s album....Totally suffused in acid: being full of bizarre juxtapositions, perceptual tricks, multiple viewpoint lyrics, lightning fast, almost schizoid changes of mood and topic, the personal fusing with the universal..."Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.89) - "...'The' key '60s album....Totally suffused in acid: being full of bizarre juxtapositions, perceptual tricks, multiple viewpoint lyrics, lightning fast, almost schizoid changes of mood and topic, the personal fusing with the universal..."NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #18 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'NME (Magazine) (2/17/01, p.45) - 10 out of 10 - "...An album of awesome intensity and tenderness....baroque and beautiful folk-rock the like of which had never been heard before - nore been bettered since..."NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #18 in NME's list of the "Greatest Albums Of All Time."NME (Magazine) (2/17/01, p.45) - 10 out of 10 - "...An album of awesome intensity and tenderness....baroque and beautiful folk-rock the like of which had never been heard before - nor been bettered since..."Blender (Magazine) (p.81) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] font for artists from beck to Thom Yorke, lovers of knotty pop, and doubters of pop-culture euphoria."Paste (magazine) (p.79) - "FOREVER CHANGES is a haunted record, from its fragile vocals to the deathly premonitions that loomed over frontman Arthur Lee throughout its recording process....The original album itself is incredible."Record Collector (magazine) (p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's an unparalleled combination of a dexterous melodic wit, ambitious arrangements that have bewitched generations and a lyrical vision veering between the unsettling and sensitive."0.1630719